Knowso "Hypnotic Smack"

LP - $12.70
STREET DATE: 9/5/25
CAT#: SSR-152
LABEL: Sorry State

Hypnotic Smack is the new album from Knowso, the Cleveland punk duo featuring Nathan Ward (Cruelster, Perverts Again, the Carp) and Jayson Gerycz (Cloud Nothings). If you’ve heard Knowso’s music, you know they’re spiritual children of Devo, both in their proclivity toward dense and nervy rhythmic experimentation and in the way their lyrics turn a cracked, distorted mirror at the world and its many absurdities. Like the Fall’s best records, Hypnotic Smack attacks the body and the brain simultaneously, your hips jerking uncontrollably to the robotic pulse of “You Climb the Sphynx” and “Club Music is the Soundtrack” while your brain chews the koan-like cud of lyrical nuggets such as “every boss in America is a real estate agent.” Ward’s cryptic lyrics reflect the psychedelic labyrinth of horrors that is your daily doomscroll, but it’s OK… we can still dance the night away to “Panopticon,” the goth club dance anthem no one predicted Knowso would write. The world is full of punk bands that are great at pummeling you, but Hypnotic Smack is the rare punk record that beguiles and entrances.

TRACK LISTING:
01. You Climb the Sphinx
02. Blue
03. There Is No Connection
04. Perfect for Bleach
05. Fluorescent Pink
06. Sacred Mystery
07. Consumer Talk
08. Panopticon
09. Club Music Is the Soundtrack
10. Sin of Property
11. Blood in Your Memory

MARKETING POINTS:

  • Knowso shares a drummer with Cloud Nothings and is part of a close-knit scene of related bands, a kind of punk cinematic universe that also includes Cruelster (whose new LP just came out on Convulse Records), Perverts Again, and the Carp (recent LP on Total Punk)

FOR FANS OF:
Devo, the Fall, Cruelster, Cloud Nothings

Modern Life Is War "Life On The Moon"

LP - $18.15 / CD - $8.00 /
LP UPC: 641956287277
CD UPC: 641956287284
STREET DATE: 9/5/25
CAT#: DW246 / IOD-93
LABEL: Deathwish Inc. / Iodine Recordings

Life on the Moon marks the bold return of Modern Life Is War, their first studio album in over a decade.The album serves as a tribute to loss, a reflection on grief, struggle and the beauty of living, the moments between dreams and nightmares, memories and desires. Known for their distinctive blend of raw emotion and confrontational intensity, Modern Life Is War once again delivers a mix of gritty realism and poetic despair, pushing forward while staying in touch with that which has resonated with audiences over the years. Crafted over several years with the help of long-time collaborator Brooks Strause and friends, Life on the Moon is as much an emotional outpouring as it is a sonic evolution. Showcasing the band’s continued ability to confront personal turmoil with a potent mix of defiance and vulnerability.

Life on the Moon is a record about the pain of separation and the joyful energy of union as filtered through an eclectic tapestry of eccentric songs.

TRACK LISTING:
01. Invocation
02. First Song on the Moon
03. There Is A Telephone That Never Stops Ringing
04. Empty Shoes
05. Jackie Oh No
06. Johnny Gone
07. Homecoming Queen
08. You Look Like The Morning Sun
09. In The Shadow of Ingredion
10. Bloodsport
11. Kid Hard Dub
12. Over The Road
13. Talismanic

MARKETING POINTS:

  • Classic Hardcore / Post-Hardcore band from Marshalltown, IA
  • The band’s first full length LP in over a decade
  • US and EU touring in 2025 w/ Hot Water Music, Spanish Love Songs, and Comeback Kid
  • Produced with long time collaborator Brooks Strause and mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio (Drug Church, New Found Glory). Tracked and engineered across multiple studios including with Greg Norman at Electrical Audio (The Killers, Russian Circles), Ryan Patterson (Coliseum) and Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden).
  • Deluxe Packaging with expansive booklet and original artwork by the band
  • Split release between Deathwish Inc and Iodine Recordings
  • Featuring guest performances by Peter Balestrieri of the Violent Femmes and Ryan Patterson of Coliseum

FOR FANS OF:
American Nightmare, Verse, Defeater, The Hope Conspiracy

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Illiterates "Does Not Compute"

LP - $12.70
STREET DATE: 9/5/25
CAT#: SSR-148
LABEL: Sorry State

The “dumbest band in hardcore” returns with twelve more rampaging tracks. While Illiterates’ last record, 2023’s No Experts, trimmed their compositions to the bone, Does Not Compute widens the scope just a hair, making room for anthemic mid-paced parts (see “Remember When” and the epic title track), blazing Straight Ahead-esque crossover rippage (“Sustainability”), and even a touch of trad youth crew (the Can’t Close My Eyes influences were all over No Experts, but “No One Wants To” is pure Revelation Records circa 1988). Illiterates have also added a new guitarist since the last record, which they’re so excited about they wrote a song about it (“Hig Champion”), though they tastefully limit themselves to just a few eruptions of fret-melting lead licks. And while Illiterates insist they’re dumb, their lyrics are full of wisdom you don’t get at the library, like the anti-pretension anthem “Read the Room” (my favorite lyric: “one thing school didn’t teach you is how to read the fucking room”). Hair-splitting aside, Does Not Compute is another great hardcore record from one of the best bands in the game right now.

TRACK LISTING:
01. Remember When
02. Commodified Life
03. M.O.E.
04. Does Not Compute
05. No One Wants To
06. Read the Room
07. Hold a Grudge
08. Grey Cloud
09. Hig Champion
10. Sustainability
11. Self Diagnosed
12. Won't Bring Me Down

MARKETING POINTS:

  • Actively playing shows around the eastern US.
  • European tour in October 2025
  • Previous LP is one of Sorry State's best sellers

FOR FANS OF:
Youth of Today, Speed Plans